Milestone for Qantas Brisbane Heavy Maintenance Facility

BRISBANE, 01 April 2004

Qantas announced today that its new Brisbane heavy maintenance engineering base would be open for business before the end of the year.

Qantas Executive General Manager Engineering, Technical Operations and Maintenance Services (ETOMS), David Cox, and Queensland Minister for State Development, Tony McGrady, inspected work on the project today.

This followed the recent completion of a major milestone on the project - the lifting into place of the hangar's steel roof.

Mr Cox said the construction of the new facility and the relocation of Boeing 767 heavy maintenance operations to Brisbane was an important engineering and logistical exercise for the airline.

"Due to recent aircraft fleet growth and facility constraints in Sydney, we need to expand our maintenance operations, and Brisbane has provided us with a great opportunity to establish a state-of-the-art, world class facility," Mr Cox said.

Qantas has worked closely with the Queensland Government and Brisbane Airport Corporation on the project, with the initial planning phase beginning more than three years ago. Construction work by Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd commenced in September 2002.

The recent lifting of the facility's hangar roof was a significant milestone for the project.

The structure weighs almost 3,000 tonnes, and lifting it 26 metres above ground level has allowed work to start on the important job of fitting out the hangar itself. Work is also continuing on associated facilities.

Mr Cox said a key aspect of the project was the number of jobs it was creating.

"Qantas is committed to providing engineering and maintenance job opportunities in Australia," he said.

"We employ more than 6,000 people in engineering and maintenance jobs throughout Australia and the Brisbane facility will initially employ 400 people.

"Many of our Sydney-based staff and their families will relocate to Brisbane, but we will also be employing a significant number of local qualified and apprentice aircraft engineers."

When fully operational later this year, the new facility will include a three-bay aircraft hangar and be able to accommodate two B767 heavy maintenance checks simultaneously, as well as one line maintenance aircraft. It will also be able to accommodate the Airbus A330 aircraft and include a two-storey workshop, stores facility, car park and aircraft apron.

It will bring to four the number of Qantas ETOMS heavy maintenance facilities. The airline will conduct heavy maintenance on Boeing 767s in Brisbane. Heavy maintenance on Boeing 747s will continue in Sydney and Avalon in Victoria and work on the Boeing 737 fleet will continue in Melbourne.

Issued by Qantas Corporate Communication (3066)
Email: qantasmedia@qantas.com.au